Tempranillo

The first sign of 1994 was auspicious.  After three parched years in Rioja that had produced forgettable wines, warm weather in the beginning of ‘94 nudged an early budbreak, which augured a nice, long growing season. Though an April frost knocked out 10–30% of the buds, it also put a much-needed slowdown on the fruit’s…

The Rioja that Shocked the NYC Somms Presenting a flight of classic-vintage wines to a group of sommeliers is often a fraught experience: The best of them taste so much extraordinary wine that they tend to be a jaded bunch, and even the so-called grand-slam bottles fall flat. And when these top-flight tastings take place…

Imagine this: It’s 2009 and the Rioja Gran Reservas from the stunning 2004 vintage are just being released. You hear it’s a fantastic vintage, called “nearly perfect” by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and one to stock up on with wild abandon.  Now, imagine the chance to experience the magic of a perfectly aged wine without…

Every wine lover should experience the glory of a top-vintage Gran Reserva Rioja aged more than 10 years, and the 2004 Bodegas Urbina delivers that experience in spades.  The 2004 vintage in Rioja is legendary, heralded as one of the best harvests in the last 25 years. Decanter Magazine gave 2004 a rare five stars,…

What were you doing 13 years ago? Wine Access was still in its infancy, the first iPhone had just made its debut, and Bob Barker hosted his last episode of The Price is Right—but Viñedos de Páganos’s 2007 El Puntido was already in barrel. Now, over a decade later, we’ve pried a tiny quantity of…

By mid-September 2009, growers in Rioja didn’t know what to think. Winter and spring started off cold and wet, but farmers who’d shivered while pruning and shoot-thinning found themselves absolutely roasting through the summer—and concerned whether the grapes would develop properly or shrivel away. Then, in the second week of September, a torrent of rain…

From Wine Spectator Top 100 to “the greatest Rioja vintage in 50 years” Under the direction of enologist Pedro Vivanco, Dinastia Vivanco has become one of Rioja’s most important estates, a sprawling 440-hectare property set on the undulating hills around Briones. In a critical shot heard all over Spain, Vivanco wowed Wine Spectator in 2011,…

Silencing the Spanish Wine Critics: 93pt Rioja Reserva in Parker’s 95pt Vintage For nearly three years, readers had been filling our inboxes with complaints about the dearth of Spanish reds on WineAccess. With the release of the 2010 Rioja vintage, rated 95 points by The Wine Advocate, it was finally time to silence our critics….

“There’s so much complexity and balance for the money here,” Master Sommelier Sur Lucero said when he pulled out Bodegas Tobía’s 2011 Gran Reserva. His audience was a patio full of Napa insiders who don’t even blink at triple-digit-priced reds, and who had some of their vinous favorites in tow. But after the glasses were drained,…

Resisting “Funny Money” Temptation in Ribera del Duero We called it “funny money.” Less than a year after the Common Market was formed, Europe’s central bank turned on the faucet. Millions of euros poured into Spain’s vineyards and bodegas. The intent was noble, but for the most part, the results were lackluster. When we visited Ribera…